The Bethany Bullet-Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Our God exists outside and beyond time. He is the author of TIME. Yet, He bound Himself in His Son to time:

• As He lived the span of 3 decades,
• As He hung in darkness on the cross for 3 hours,
• And as His body lay lifeless in a tomb for 3 days.

Christ ran the race and we are His prize. It is neither medals nor trophies He is taking home but people - you and me. In Christ, God bound himself in time – to free you for time and from time. That means we are to treasure, invest, & measure our time and encounter God in time until eternity.

T – reasure. Time is a gift from God. He is the author of it. Think of the value of time. What is the value of a year – ask the college student who couldn’t get through in four years because of impacted class loads. What is the value of a month – compare your 401k’s worth with the 6th of September to its worth today, be prepared to shed a tear if you do. What is the value of an hour – ask the business man whose delayed flight cost him a contract or a client. What is the value of a minute – ask the family of someone who was chocking and had a doctor dining in the same restaurant. What is the value of a millisecond – ask the guy who Michael Phelps beat out by a finger tip.

Time is of such value. Yet, Jesus was apparently never in a hurry. Now there is no denying that He had the most important job in history, as well as the most demanding schedule of anyone who ever lived. He was in the business of redeeming the world. Still Jesus had time…

• to consider flowers and birds,
• to bless little children who others thought were wasting His time,
• to talk to those who interrupted Him while He was on His way to work an immediate miracle need, causing those He had promised to help, to think that He was wasting their time.

Treasure your time. In the blink of an eye, a child has gone from Kindergarten to college graduate. In the blink of an eye, one has gone from first-time parent to empty-nester. In the blink of an eye, one has gone from newly-wed to widow. The hard thing about treasuring time itself can be a difficult issue. It is easy to get frustrated with lack of time, to become burdened with demands of time, and if you live to see the length of days there may come a time you wonder why God is taking so much time before coming to free you from time and lead you into eternity. The key to viewing time as treasure is gaining an eternal perspective and thus view our days as a gift - a gift that gets eternity rolling.

I – nvest. Ken Griffey Jr. won the Players Choice Award for Player of the Decade in 1999. He beat out guys like Frank Thomas, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire & Roger Clemens who were regular recipients of annual awards throughout the 90’s. Yet, Ken Griffey, Jr. didn’t make it to the presentation – for it was scheduled on a night in which his son was going to play in his first little league game. He knew where to invest.

Invest your time wisely. No one ever said with a dying breath that they wished they had put more hours in at the office. Time is bound - we all have the same amount of it, but how we use it is another matter. Invest in FAMILY! Invest in your FRIENDS! Invest in RELATIONSHIPS. Especially with those who do not yet know Christ, for those who do not know Jesus the time they have on earth is as close to heaven as they’ll ever get. Invest in your FUTHERANCE: Personally, Professionally, & Spiritually.

M – easure. Number your years. Some of us blow out candles with joy while others among us keep it a big secret. The key to grasping time is to understand that just as we count the candles we are called to understand that our days are numbered. One day the flame will be blown out, we are mortal. From an eternal perspective - our days are countless – one day we will be with the Lord, but that of necessity means that your time on earth will not go on forever, and as of this second your time is less than it was when the alarm went off this morning. It is less than it was when you began reading this Bethany Bullet. Measuring our time is vital for only when we number our years and days can we see beyond the immediate moment and afford an eternal glimpse into the minute by minute minutia of life.

E – ncounter. God is not bound by time or space. With Him a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day. He doesn’t wear a Rolex or a Timex. He doesn’t have a PDA or a Day Timer. He is the creator of time and he is greater than time! In Christ, He has come to free you for time and from time. Freed from Time – one day we will live where alarm clocks, calendars, appointment books and work schedules disappear. Where sunrises and sunsets are no more - for the Lamb is the Light of heaven. We are also freed, for the time is here and now to encounter the timeless God and to experience a bit of eternity in the holy, sacred time of worship, prayer, and study of God’s Word.